State program gives Cobre students an early start

The 14 kindergarten students in first-year teacher Sabrina Mooers’ class at Bayard Elementary won’t be nervous or scared the first day of school this year, because they already know one another and the teacher very well. Not only do the students know one another, but their parents know one another and the teacher as well.

The early familiarity is thanks to the K-3 Plus program through the state of New Mexico’s Public Education Department, which provides schools in high-poverty areas with funding to begin their school year early — 25 days early, in the case of Cobre’s elementary schools. The Cobre District has been involved in the K-3 Plus program for three years and has around 250 students district-wide enrolled in it, according to Associate Superintendent Jose Carrillo, who is in charge of the program.

Mooers, born and raised in Canutillo, Texas, arrived in Grant County in June to begin her first year of teaching in the Cobre District after graduating from the El Paso branch of the University of Phoenix. The K-3 Plus 2015-16 school year began for Mooers’ class on Tuesday, June 30, and continues, with a one-week break in August, all the way through the regular school year.

The extended school year for kindergartners allows the students, who start at different levels of knowledge, to work together on hands-on projects — such as keeping a journal of artwork tied to their learning in subjects such as science, nature and arithmetic.

“Keeping a journal allows them to learn how to hold a pencil, getting ready to learn to form letters to begin to write, and to write and read from left to right, getting them ready to learn to read,” said Mooers.

Mooers stressed that learning the basics of counting to 10, knowing their colors, being able to put names to objects, socializing and working with others well are where children this age need to start. By having this additional 25 days to get to know one another, the children who start out ahead, already knowing how to count and their colors, actually help bring the children who don’t have these skills up to their level of knowledge by interaction, playing and working together on projects.

“I have 14 kids that want to be here,” Mooers said. “Sometimes during the summer, parents would want to take their child out of class for a day or two, but the children don’t want to miss what happens next in the lives of the butterflies or other activities we have going on every day in class.”

The program also stresses parent involvement. Parents come to drop their children off and pick them up and are invited to actually come into the classroom to talk with the teacher and get to know her.

“I get to develop a relationship with my students and their parents, and the parents do understand that this is an important beginning to get the children ready to succeed in school,” Mooers said.